The Fallen Huntsmen's Charm
by werewolf714
Summary: Students at Beacon academy have been steadily going missing after a mysterious post on Coco's blog. What at first seems like a harmless sleepover game may soon prove itself a deadly charade best left forgotten. (Timeline, between season two and season three.) (Corps Party Crossover)
1. Chapter 1

Thunder rolled in the skies above as rain poured down in an unending tirade against the buildings of Beacon academy.  
"But, why us?" Jaune asked, he with the rest of his team and team RWBY stood before Professor Goodwich in one of the now quiet classrooms.  
"Because I think that you are the only two teams I can trust with this mission." The Professor explained.  
"Wow... Gotta be a pretty dangerous mission to need all of us." Ruby noted.  
Glynda gave a slight nod before continuing. "Most of the danger stems from lack of information. All we know is the string of disappearances is linked to this, 'fallen hunter's charm' that was posted on Coco's blog."  
"So we're just going to dive head first into this with no other information?" Blake asked, uneasy.  
"Adventure!" Nora cheered.  
Again the Professor nodded, giving the Faunus girl a sympathetic look. "Unfortunately yes, there have been no more leads that we could find. Our primary objective is finding team CFVY and bringing them back to safety. We are armed so we should be better prepared than the others who have done this charm. We are also aware that we are walking into an unknown threat, so, be prepared for anything, stick together, with your partner at the very least at all times and do not lose your piece of the charm. Understood?"  
The others present nodded.  
"Good." Glynda sighed then went over to the desk and picked something up, returning to the group and presenting the charm. It was a piece of paper cut in the shape of a cloaked figure.  
Ruby couldn't help but be reminded of her mother by the snowy white piece of paper that was meant to look like a cloak wearing huntsmen.  
"Now, everyone, take a firm hold with one hand, dig your nails into it if you have to. Then repeat 'fallen huntsmen, we beg of you' nine times in your head. Once everyone is finished we pull the paper apart. Ready?"  
The others nodded, the looks on their faces varying from fear to determination to excitement.  
"Start."  
The room fell silent as the nine of them repeated the phrase nine times in their heads. The only sound was the pattering of rain on the window and the distant roll of thunder.  
Lightning flashed and brightened the room as Glynda looked back up at the students she'd chosen for this mission. "Everyone say it nine times?"  
The others nodded.  
"Pull."  
They did so and the paper tore into nine pieces.  
"Quickly, put your paper scraps somewhere safe." Glynda ordered as she did so with her own.  
The others followed suit but Jaune gave her a confused look. "Nothing's happening."  
No sooner had he said that the entire room started shaking violently, lights flickering. The floor under them seemed to shatter of its own accord with particles of pure darkness floating up as they started to fall.  
The sound of nine weapons clattering to the floor echoed through the now empty classroom before leaving it in silence.

* * *

Weiss groaned and pulled herself up to a sitting position, her head pounding but that faded as her vision cleared. Looking around she found she appeared to be in Professor Port's classroom, yet, not. It looked aged with cracks in the plaster and the furniture dry rotting. Everything also seemed much darker than normal and just generally _wrong_. It was so dark she almost didn't spot Blake across the room when she stood up.  
Her bow wearing teammate lay amid a mess of splinters and boards that was the remains of the desk she'd landed on. She was motionless and Weiss quickly feared the worst before hurrying over. Kneeling beside Blake she was relieved to find the Faunus was still breathing.  
"Blake, Blake! Wake up." Weiss demanded, shaking her teammate lightly.  
"Ungl..." Blake groaned as she came around.  
"You alright?"  
"I think so- ahg!" Blake grunted in pain after trying to move, she looked down at her right leg and Weiss followed suit.  
Blake's leg was impaled on a chunk of jagged wood from the desk. With a defiant growl she pulled her leg up and free before wiggling into a sitting position and pulling splinters from the bleeding wound. "Where are we?"  
"I don't know... It looks like some weird, twisted version of Beacon." She admitted, realizing the Blake's Aura wasn't healing the wound she started looking around for something they could use to stop the bleeding.  
"Damn, anyone else nearby?" Blake asked, pulling the bow off of her ears and untying it. It wouldn't be big enough to properly cover the wound though.  
"You were the first person I saw." Admitted the Heiress before she shrugged off her jacket, then biting down on the sleeve near the shoulder seam. With a firm grip on the rest of the jacket in her hands she ripped the sleeve off.  
"Weiss..!"  
"We need to stop the bleeding." She stated sharply, leaving no room for argument as she folded the sleeve so that it would pad the wound effectively then took the ribbon from Blake, who grunted as pressure was applied. With the makeshift bandage securely in place Weiss stood and put the remainder of her jacket back on.  
"Thanks... Why didn't you just use Myrtenaster to cut the seams?"  
Weiss held her hands out to her sides. "You see it around here somewhere? Because I don't."  
Blake's eyes widened and she searched around her for her own weapon then looked back up at her pale companion. "Gambol Shroud isn't here either..."  
"Guess they didn't make the trip. Can you stand?"  
"Yeah, I think so." She said and with Weiss' help managed to get back to her feet.  
"Let's see if we can find the others."  
"Yeah."  
With that both girls headed for the door, as they neared though they saw someone laying in the floor on the other side of the doorway. The person was facing away from them and all they could see was an arm with a head resting against it but there was no mistaking the disheveled blond bun. As they hurried forward Glynda slid the rest of the way out of sight, as if being dragged.  
Seeing this Weiss ran to the doorway as Blake limped to catch up. Looking down the dark hall Weiss couldn't see any sign of the professor other than her glasses which had apparently fallen off.  
"Is she okay?" Blake asked as she reached the doorway.  
"She's gone." Weiss replied quietly, kneeling to pick the glasses up.

* * *

"You okay sis?" Yang cradled her sister as her voice reached Ruby's ears as she fought her way back to consciousness.  
As Ruby's silver eyes regained their ability to see clearly her blond sister was the first thing she saw, followed by the ceiling of what looked like a dilapidated version of the ceiling of a Beacon classroom. Confused she looked around, taking in what appeared to be Professor Oobleck's classroom which looked like it had been abandoned a good fifty years. "Uh, yeah... where are we?"  
"My guess would be where everyone else ended up after doing that charm thingy." The elder sister shrugged, one hand raised palm up while the other arm still supported Ruby's back.  
The younger sister's silver eyes locked onto Yang's bare wrist. "Where's Ember Celica?"  
"Don't know, I can't find Crescent Rose either."  
"Oh no..." Ruby was instantly more tense, being separated from her precious weapon in a possible combat zone. She instinctively reached up to check and make sure her cloak was still in place and she was glad to find that she still had it.  
"Come on, we aren't gonna find anything by sitting around here doing nothing. Let's see if we can find any of the others or those we came looking for." Yang said, standing and pulling her sister to her feet with her.  
"Right..."  
After a quick check around the room to see if there was anything useful the two headed out of the room and down the hall without really picking a direction. They had to be mindful of holes in the floor and debris hanging from the ceiling as they went but other than the strict wrongness of the place it seemed quiet.  
"Do you think this place is only as big as the real school or that it reaches the city? Or even all of remnant? Like, what if this is the other side of a mirror..." Ruby pondered, glancing around to see if things looked more like they were a mirror image but they seemed exactly the same as the normal school.  
"Let's just hope it's only Beacon because otherwise we are going to be here forever." The blond sounded less than thrilled at the idea.  
Ruby was about to add to the fact they didn't actually know how to get out of this place but was distracted by something moving in the hall ahead of them. At first it looked like the shimmery water illusion that raised off of pavement in the summer but then as they steadily got closer it seemed more like it was a person. They had green hair.  
"Hey, isn't that one of the transfer students from Haven Academy?"  
"Uh, yeah... I think her name is Emerald."  
"I didn't know they disappeared too." Yang admitted.  
"Me either... hey, Emerald!" Ruby called, continuing towards the other girl. "Man, is it good to see another person around here did... you..."  
Her sentence trailed off and her footsteps faltered as Emerald turned around, slow and somewhat unnatural in her movements, red eyes seeming to glow. Lightning flashed outside, lighting up the hall and both sisters realized they could see right _through_ the other girl. It was then Ruby also noticed a line of blood running from the corner of the girl's lips and down the side of her chin. Ruby took a step back then felt as if she could no longer move at all, as if she were suddenly frozen in place.  
"Hhhhgggg." The other girl groaned, reaching towards Ruby and slowly opening her mouth, causing more blood to spill over her lips.  
"Ruby..." Yang said worriedly, inching closer to her sister but not looking away from the thing down the hall.  
"Giiihhhh..." A crazed look filled the red eyes and she rushed the sisters.  
Ruby's heart raced, she couldn't think, couldn't move, her body just refused to listen. Lucky for her Yang wasn't affected the same way, grabbing her wrist and practically dragging her down the hall to run away. Emerald followed, feet not even touching the ground as she chased them with inhuman speed, which wasn't fair considering Ruby couldn't seem to access her semblance. Yang was fast on her feet though, dashing down the hall while dragging her sister, making a sharp turn and running right through the front doors of the building, which luckily gave when she tackled them.  
The girls ran a good distance from the door before realizing their pursuer didn't follow them outside so the two stood in the rain, trying to catch their breath.  
"What _was_ that?" Ruby panted.  
Before Yang could even try to answer a sharp scream cut through the air. A scream filled with panic and horror. "STOP! NOOOOOOO!"  
The sisters locked eyes. "That sounded like Weiss."  
Without another word the two charged off in the direction of the scream, running as fast as they could towards the cafeteria. The sound of their feet pounding on the sidewalk, splashing through puddles and careful to avoid holes in the ground as they went, the rain pounding on them and the ground around them the only sound other than their feet and labored breathing.  
The two hit the doors at the same time, charging in but nearly stumbling back out do to the smell of rotting. Rotting food and something else, something nastier. It was dark as the team leader scanned the room, hoping her pale partner would stand out even in the shadows.  
"Weiss?" She gagged from the smell.  
No answer.  
Lightning flashed outside and lit up the room briefly, giving the sister a glimpse at the room, tables disheveled and food rotted to mush and crawling with maggots. That wasn't all though, the shadows of long dead bodies were also visible among the tangle of dishes, tables and benches.  
"Weiss...?" Ruby called again, this time it was muffled with her cloak as she'd thought to cover her mouth and nose.  
"She probably saw the state of this place, screamed and ran." Yang suggested and that did seem likely.  
The overhead lights flickered as the two turned for the door and a big patch of red caught Ruby's eyes. The lights flickered again, staying on and the silver eyes locked onto what had caught her attention before, widening in horror. The big patch of red on the other end of the long room was blood and bits of flesh, the rest of the body in a tangled, unrecognizable mess on the floor just under it.  
That turned out to be more than she could handle, her stomach turned and she dropped to her knees just before the contents of said stomach could come back to haunt her.  
"Ruby..." Yang's tone was soft but also unnerved, tearing her eyes away from the gruesome scene to kneel beside her sister and held back her hair. Once it seemed no more would be coming up she pulled her little sister back out of the cafeteria and into the rain.  
"Weiss..."  
"I'm sure that wasn't her... It looked recent but maybe she saw it happen. Either way we need to keep looking for her." Yang insisted.  
"Weiss... Please be okay..." Ruby sounded like she was on the edge of tears.  
"Yeah... Blake better be too."

* * *

_'Boop.'_  
"Nora?" Ren sat up quickly, speaking and moving before he could even see clearly.  
When his vision did clear he found he was alone, which both disappointed and worried him at the same time. Getting to his feet he glanced around to get his bearings, the room he was in looked like his teams dorm room but as if it had been abandoned and left to rot a few score years. Blankets were rotted and looked like they'd crumble at his touch and everything else in the room looked to be in equally bad disrepair.  
With a sigh he got out his scroll to see if he had any kind of signal but he didn't, which wasn't a surprise but meant he wouldn't be able to call his teammates and see where they were. That being pointless he put the device away and checked to make sure he had everything else but he scowled when he realized StormFlower was missing. Cursing his luck so far he glanced around the room once more, but not seeing anything useful he headed for the door. The hall was darker than the room had been but he didn't entirely care, there was only one thing on his mind.  
"Nora?!" He called as he carefully navigated down the hall. "Nora!"  
"She can't answer you..." A woman's voice quietly said from behind him.  
He spun to face the unfamiliar voice with a glare. The woman wore a long white cloak a lot like Ruby's and had her hood up and over her face so really he couldn't see much more than cloak and her boots on the floor. Scratch that, just above the floor. She glowed faintly, almost illuminating the walls and floor nearest her.  
"Why not?" He asked with a growl.  
"Because it's simply impossible." She said, an eerily amused edge to her tone. She then chuckled darkly and faded from sight, leaving Ren alone in the hallway once more.  
Mentally aiming a few rude comments at the strange, ghostly woman he turned back around and continued down the hall, calling out for Nora over and over. When he came to a dorm room door he'd try it but found most of them wouldn't budge, as if they were part of the wall and not even real. Frustrated but trying to remain calm he headed down to the first floor, it was here he noticed something lying on the floor in the darkness, it was about the size and shape of a human but it was hard to tell.  
"Nora?" He headed over to it but quickly realized it wasn't his partner, though he was also glad since this was a dead body. He frowned, whoever they'd been they had come from Beacon academy as that was the uniform they were wearing.  
Now more concerned than before he headed to the nearest door to check it like the ones upstairs, this one however, came open when he tried it. Pushing the door open he regretted it an instant later when the overpowering scent of death hit him, he quickly covered his nose and mouth as he glanced around. The room was littered with bodies in varying stages of decay, thankful he didn't see his bubbly companion among them he closed the door and hurried on. The next handful of doors he tried refused to open so that left only the door to the building itself which did open.  
It was raining but the sky was pitch black, anything past the school grounds was also black, as if there was just nothing there. Despite that disturbing fact he found himself glad for the fresh air after what he'd just experienced. He wasn't sure what exactly this place was or what was going on but people who'd come here before them hadn't left alive and that was very, very troubling.  
Standing around contemplating it wasn't going to do him any good though so he headed for the main building, figuring most of his friends would do the same or maybe even already be there. He passed more bodies on his way to the main entrance but there were fewer the closer he got and he hoped that was a good sign, if anything could be a good sign in this place.  
The doors opened with ease which was a slight ease on his mind and he headed inside. "Nora!"  
Still no answer. He sighed and continued on, passing yet another body as he neared another hallway and decided to go left first, calling for his partner again. "Nora!"  
"Ren?"  
He froze, it had been so quiet he wasn't sure his ears weren't playing tricks on him but it came again.  
"Ren?" It was Jaune.  
"Nora?" That was Pyrrha's voice.  
"Jaune! Pyrrha!" He called back and followed their voices.  
"Ren, where are you?" He heard Jaune call from further down the hall.  
"Here, you guys alright?" He called back, hurrying a bit.  
"Yeah, Nora with you?" The team's leader called. At this point they sounded very close, Ren felt like he should see them by now, even if it was dark.  
"No, I woke alone in the dorm." He called back, slightly unnerved.  
"Ren?" There was uncertainty in the blond's voice, which now came from behind Ren, as if the two had just passed each other.  
The hairs on the back of Ren's neck stood on end as he slowly turned back around and as he did he caught a reflection in the window. Pyrrha and Jaune were facing the direction Ren had come from, looking around in confusion, but they weren't actually in the hall with him.  
"What the hell..."

* * *

"Where is he?" Jaune asked in confusion as he glanced around. "I know I heard his voice right around here..."  
"Yeah, me too." Pyrrha agreed, unnerved.  
"He's here but not in the same space." Said a familiar female voice.  
"Coco?!" Both teammates said at once, glancing up in the direction they'd heard the voice and indeed, the stylish team leader was there, leaning against the wall between the windows.  
"The one and only."  
"Oh thank goodness, we've been looking for you." Pyrrha smiled.  
"What did you mean before though, where's Ren?" Jaune asked, still keeping an eye out for his missing friend.  
"This false Beacon is made of a series of closed spaces all layered up on one another, though some of them are farther ahead or behind in time. Some places in the spaces are thin so things can echo through but as long as you are alive you can't actually pass from one closed space to another one. You are in one and Lie Ren is in another. At least the two of you were lucky enough to end up in the same one, you are the only two here though."  
"What are you talking about? You're here." Jaune asked.  
Coco reached up, pulling her sunglasses down her nose a bit to look over them at the two and in turn let them see her eyes which had a lifeless, glassy look to them. "I'm not alive anymore."  
Both took a step back from her without really meaning to.  
"No... No we came to find you as soon as we found out!" Pyrrha protested.  
"Time doesn't flow quite the same way I guess. I wondered why no one came for us before."  
"There has to be a way out of here, a way between spaces." Jaune said hopefully.  
"Well, I have a couple of theories." Coco offered.  
"Let's hear them." The blonde encouraged.

* * *

**_AN: __Well, I've returned from battling adult life problems as best I can, I know they will rise again to fight another day but for the moment I have a chance to ACTUALLY POST SOMETHING. Seriously, never grow up if you haven't already, it's a trap and if you have grown up well... I feel for you._**  
**_As always reviews and pms are welcome! I'd love to hear thoughts and theories and the like, even just letting me know you enjoy something is encouraging, life's been hell lately._**  
**_To those of you also reading __bumblekits__**, **there will be more of that soon!_**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey look, the infirmary, let's see if we can find anything to help your leg." Weiss stated, heading towards it. She was having to help Blake walk at this point, after their search for Glynda had proven fruitless the Heiress had realized her companion was barely keeping up with her, walking only making the wound worse.  
"Yeah..."  
They headed into the room, Weiss helping Blake over to the bed where she could sit down then going to search the dusty cabinets for supplies. The first was lined with bottles but few still had labels and fewer still were readable so she moved on. The next cabinet was almost empty, the only thing on the dusty shelves was an old pair of scissors. The blades were rusted and caked in what looked like blood.  
"Eww.."  
"What is it?"  
"A pair of scissors, looks like someone used them as a weapon a long time ago."  
"A weapon's a weapon, dirty or not I think we should take them along. Better than nothing." The kitty eared Faunus suggested.  
"Yeah, good point." Weiss sighed then went ahead and picked them up. Despite the state of them they still looked sharp-ish and painful.  
Slipping the scissors through her belt against her back the snowy haired girl moved on to the next and last cabinet and was relieved to find a bottle of antiseptic. Taking that she headed back over to her friend and knelt beside the bed. The jacket sleeve turned bandage was solid red now and Weiss frowned, she knew the wound had been leaving a blood trail for a while now. She tried to push that thought, and the thought of the bodies they'd found out of her mind so she could focus on the task at hand.  
"We'll need another bandage, I didn't see any though." Weiss admitted as she carefully untied the ribbon.  
"Use this." Blake said, taking off her scarf and setting it in her lap.  
Weiss nodded and proceeded to carefully remove the bloody jacket sleeve then pour the antiseptic over the wound. Blake hissed and snarled against the pain but didn't scream and the Heiress silently commended her companion, she was sure she wouldn't be able to handle this sort of pain so well. That lead her to another thought though, neither of their Aura's were recovering, it was like this place was slowly sapping the life out of them.  
Again Weiss had to push less than pleasant thoughts aside and focus on what she was doing. Content the wound had been thoroughly disinfected she reached up and took the scarf, folding and placing it just as she had the jacket sleeve and then returned the ribbon, tying it tight once more.  
"There, good as new." Weiss said with a smile.  
"Thanks, I appreciate it."  
"Not a thing to worry about with Dr. Schnee on hand, though at this rate you're going have a cooler scar than mine."  
That brought a small laugh out of the wounded Faunus girl but her smile quickly faded as she noticed her blood on Weiss' hands. "Sorry..."  
Weiss glanced down at her hands and shrugged. "Don't worry about it, we're friends and teammates Blake, I know you'd do the same for me or Ruby or Yang."  
As she said that Weiss headed over to the sink she'd spotted but upon turning the faucet handle the pipes clattered and clanged loudly but no water came out. With a sight she shut it back off and wiped the blood off on her skirt as best she could.  
"That's true, I still feel bad though... I hope everyone's alright... Yang..."  
"I'm sure they're all doing better than us and we're not in that bad of shape." She pointed out optimistically, while she was normally much more serious and to the point she knew Blake could be downright pessimistic and she didn't want her teammate to lose hope. So, in lieu of a better option she took a page from her partner's book at the best side of the situation, though that was very little.  
"Not Professor Goodwitch." Blake retorted.  
"I know, I'm worried about her too. At the moment though my biggest concern is you, you've lost a lot of blood and you're looking a bit pale so how about you rest for a bit? Get that leg elevated and see if we can slow the bleeding long enough for it to heal a bit." Weiss suggested, walking back over and gathering pillows and blankets, which weren't quite as dusty as she'd have thought, then stacked them at the foot of the bed.  
Blake sighed but complied, she wanted to keep going but she'd learned not to try and push herself too far around her team. They cared about her too much to let her risk her health. Once the Faunus girl was settled the Heiress seemed to relax a bit.  
"Thank you, now, I think you'll be safe here so I'm going to go check the other rooms close by for the Professor."  
"No! She said not to split up." Blake protested, sitting back up but the other girl pushed her back down.  
"That was before we'd seen the place, so far the most dangerous thing we've come across was an angry desk, a few piles of bones and some nasty bugs."  
"And whatever dragged the Professor off!"  
"I'm armed with blood coated scissors, have blood all over my dress and am full of ire so something's going to have to be pretty stupid to mess with me. I won't be gone long, you just rest."  
Blake let out an irritated sigh but remained down, mostly because she knew she was in no shape to stop the other girl. "Fine, but don't be gone long."  
"I won't." She promised then slipped out the door. She closed it behind her and sighed, glad Blake hadn't argued harder, she really did need to take it easy for a bit.  
That handled she continued on down the hall, trying to figure out where the professor had ended up. The room nearest the infirmary was locked up tight so she skipped it and opened the door to the next. It was empty so she continued on, checking the next and last one in this hallway.  
The moment she opened the door she knew something was off, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, as well as the ones on her bare arm. Inside she sensed that someone was laughing psychotically but she couldn't _hear_ it, just feel it, the impression and that was unnerving enough on its own. That wasn't the only thing wrong though, the strange sensation was accompanied by a 'thud thud thud' sound like someone was jumping up and down on a piece of wooden furniture and that intern seemed to cause a squelching crunch sound.  
Taking a couple more steps then looking towards the sound the Heiress was suddenly horrified at what she saw.  
A girl in a white tailcoat, half her hair brown and the other half pink was semi transparent and indeed jumping up and down on an overturned cabinet. It was Neo, Torchwick's henchman.  
Under that cabinet lay a motionless Professor Goodwitch, a growing pool of blood under her.  
Somehow she managed not to scream, not to gain the attention of the mute ghost. She wasn't even sure how _that_ person had ended up here and at the same time she didn't want to know. Now she was worried, not only was that a known enemy but she'd apparently killed Glynda and as bad as she wanted revenge she had no idea how to kill a ghost.  
Quietly she backed out of the room, gently sliding the door closed and then carefully backing down the hall a bit before turning and hurrying back to the infirmary to check on Blake.

* * *

_'Yang! Stop that tickles!' Blake protested, lying in her bed the blond had her pinned down, just barely running a finger along the side of one furry ear._  
_'Oh, well then.. Would you rather I did... This!' The fiery blond grinned mischievously just before bringing her lips down to lightly brush against her partner's neck, then very lightly biting her several times, moving up the Faunus's neck with each tiny nibble._  
_'Ah...!' Blake gasped, dropping the book she'd stubbornly been hanging onto. 'You are... Impossible when you want attention.'_  
_'You know it.' She grinned, laying down atop the trapped girl, wrapping her arms around her._  
_One thing stood out to Blake as she hugged her back, snuggling her face into the blond hair, was how incredibly warm the other girl was. It was pleasant and in a way felt like a tangible effect of Yang's love for her._  
_It was comforting._  
A scratching sound started to invade on her attention but she pushed the sound away.  
_'I love you Blake.'_  
It was a sound like someone writing with a fountain pen and it got louder, as if getting closer. The image of Yang started to fade and the warmth started to feel wrong.  
"I love you too, Yang." Her voice startled her the rest of the way awake and her heart sank as she realized where she still was. However now her attention snapped fully on the scratching sound and she glanced in the direction it was coming from. There was a simple desk, meant for the school nurse and on it was a lamp and old journal, a fountain pen floating and writing seemingly of its own accord.  
Unnerved the Faunus tried to sit up but found she couldn't move, trapped in place and the room was definitely warmer than before. She struggled to move, silently screaming at her muscles to respond but they did nothing, leaving her motionless, barely able to even breathe.  
The pen was laid down gently, the chair scooted back ever so slightly followed by the sound of someone standing and the click, clack of high heels on the floor, slowly getting closer to the bed with each step. The light on the desk shorted out, flickering then falling dark, bathing the room in darkness. This left Blake with the uncomfortable heat that seemed to grow with each step she heard.  
Lightning flashed outside the windows, illuminating the room for a brief moment and revealing a shadow lurking over her but it didn't fade when the light did, she could still see it. A pool of shimmering darkness, loosely shaped like a woman and framed in a flickering dark red, aura like glow that released no light. One eye stared down at her, emanating a gold flame with a furious intensity.  
_'Weiss..!'_ She begged her mouth to let her scream but it refused.  
The shadowy being was looming closer and closer, shadows wrapping around her throat and applying pressure to her chest. Everywhere the shadows touched burned with an angry heat. As her body gasped without her telling it to the shadowy woman shoved her arm down Blake's throat, the shadows trying to fill her body, take it over.  
"Ree..veengeee.. I waaaaaaaaaaaaant veeen... ganceee!" A female voice hissed from the shadows.  
It was getting close to impossible to breathe but she still couldn't move, beginning to fear she was about to die.  
"Killl him... Kill him!" The ghost hissed, completely intent on possessing Blake's body to exact her revenge. "I will... Kill **Adaaam Tauruuus!**"  
"...!" The name was a shock but Blake didn't have time to think about it as she found she could finally move and move she did, rolling away and dropping into the floor as she coughed and choked, gasping and gagging. The shadows released her as she got farther from them and staggering to her feet she glanced back at the shadowy woman that was now drifting back down to stand on the floor. She moved slowly, each step accompanied by a glass like clink of high heels.  
Taking her chance Blake dashed for the door, ignoring the protesting throb in her leg, however the door was blocked by a threadlike substance that looked sort of like hair or spider silk. When she touched it, it cut her finger. "Glass?"  
Shoving confusion aside she took a step back, only glancing to see if the woman was still behind her and indeed she was, the heat increasing as it closed the distance. Shifting her attention back to the door Blake put her weight on her bad leg, cringing against the pain and refusing to let the dizziness take hold. She pulled her good leg up and kicked out hard, shattering the strands of glass then darting through to the door and forced it open as well. Ignoring the scratches the glass had gifted her with on her dash through she charged into the hall, her leg faltered though and she tumbled into the opposite wall, landing on a corpse.  
Forcing herself not to gag she looked back up at the doorway, the shadow stood there a moment before fading away, the heat from it couldn't seem to reach the hallway. She got up, staggering away from the corpse on the floor but was soon on her knees again, coughing and choking again. With a final gag and cough she spit blood all over the floor and wall directly in front of her. She remained kneeling there, gasping for breath and trying to will the dizziness away.  
She heard the sound of someone running towards her but before she could even look up she heard Weiss' voice calling out her name. The Heiress stopped right next to her, the white boots dotted with blood and coated in dust entered her field of view before she knelt and rested a hand on her back.  
"Blake...?"  
Now she did look up, giving the other girl a sharp glare. "'Don't split up' That's what she said, you fucking moron."  
The already troubled looking Weiss flinched at that then glanced from the blood on Blake's lips to the fresh blood on the floor and wall, to the new scratches to the open and empty infirmary door then back to Blake. "What... what happened? Are you okay?"  
"What does it look like idiot? I was attacked in there!" _'What? I'm angry but I didn't want to say that.'_ She thought to herself but couldn't seem to control what she was coming out of her mouth. "You just _had_ to split up didn't you? Are you trying to get us both killed you fucking dumbass?" _'No... Stop, what am I saying?'_  
"Blake... I... I'm sorry I just wanted to find..." A mix of hurt and fear filled the Heiress' expression.  
"I don't give a damn! You should have either waited or let me come with you but if you wanna split up so damn badly than fine! I'm sick of your stupidity anyway." _'No... I don't want to be alone in this place!'_ Despite that she was suddenly flooded with a wave of rage and stomped off in the direction she hadn't been yet.  
"Blake..." Weiss said weakly from behind her but the Heiress didn't chase after her so she kept going.  
After a while of walking whatever had been possessing her emotions seemed to fade away as she felt much more in control of herself. She stopped and leaned on a wall to get the weight off of her leg for a moment. She was now in a room that was covered in dust, a few sets of bones here and there that had once been people but looked like they'd died in this place long, long ago. _'What the hell was that? Weiss is probably furious with me, still, I should go back and see if I can find her.'_  
Looking up and back the direction the hall was she was startled to find only wall. It was like the doorway she'd walked through had never existed. Hobbling over to it she found it to be solid and coated in a thick layer of dust, like it had always been there.  
"Blake!"  
Kitty ears flicked and she turned towards the other doorway, at the other end of the room. "Yang?!"

* * *

"We're going to die here aren't we." Mercury stated more than asked to which his ginger companion sighed. The teen stood and paced, this place was giving him a headache but aside from that had been safe so far.  
"If we don't find a way out we are." Roman admitted grimly. "Bastard animal."  
"We'll make him pay." Mercury grumbled.  
"We have to get out first and how do you propose we do that?"  
"I don't know... They got out so there has to be away. It's either that or we're goners."  
"Personally I don't intend to die here but I think intentions may be damned."  
"They got out didn't they? I mean, out of everyone we came with we haven't seen them, if they showed up here at all." Mercury pointed out as he paced.  
"If the rat is still here I'm going to kill him very, very slowly... It's his fault, Neo..." Roman's sentence ended in a low growl and he clenched his teeth as he again remembered how his mute partner in crime died.  
"Let's head to the next building, this dorm makes my head hurt."  
"Yeah..." Roman agreed, standing and walking alongside Mercury back out of the quiet dorm room, covering his mouth and nose as they walked back down the hall littered with corpses, some still decaying.  
Mercury was relieved to step out into the rain, not fond of it's cold sting but the slightly fresher air and less dense feeling already improved his headache. He walked along the cracked and damaged sidewalk, ignoring bodies strewn along the campus grounds but paused when he realized Roman must have spotted it because the man had started off in another direction, kneeling down to pick up a shovel, it was a bit bloody but in decent condition. The gray eyed teen only shrugged, waiting for the man to catch back up to him before continuing to walk.  
They continued towards the next building as the rain hammered down on them and lightning cracked the sky, though all of it was pitch black up there. Roman had been walking with the shovel rested against his shoulder but as they neared the doors something occurred to him and he grinned. Shifting his grip he lifted the shovel and just as the teen reached for the handle the crime mastermind brought the garden tool turned weapon down hard against the back of Mercury's skull. It hit with a metallic thud and the boy fell forward, smacking his forehead on the door before sliding down it.  
He turned the tip of the shovel down on the ground then leaned on it slightly like it was his absent weapon before bursting into laughter, his giggling cutting through the air and only slightly muffled by the pounding rain around him. He laughed, louder and louder, his mirth rising in the moment of madness.  
Not far from him a white cloaked woman appeared, only the lower half of her face was visible but there was a smirk in place as she silently watched the man.

* * *

"I don't know how this place came into existence but one thing I have figured out is that the closed spaces are held open or, powered more or less, by four key spirits. Over time this place drains their souls of all its energy and they have to be replaced. That, just happened. Velvet is one of them." Coco explained, tone turning a bit sad towards the end of that bit.  
"I'm sorry to hear that... Is any of your team alive?" Jaune asked.  
"Yatsu is... I'm not sure about Fox though... I've been looking for him."  
"We'll keep our eyes open." Pyrrha offered.  
"Thanks... Now, as I was saying those four spirits are the key, if you can find a way to put their souls at ease it may free them and that should cause the spaces to start breaking down."  
"Alright, how do we do that though?"  
"You need to find something that they were fixated on when they died, it may be the only thing to shake them out of the misery and pain that traps them. I know Velvet was frantic because she'd lost her chunk of the charm, find that and return it to her, she should snap out of it."  
"That's just a tiny scrap of paper though, and everyone here had one." Jaune said doubtfully, not sure how they would ever find it.  
"Hers was in her wallet when she lost it, so it should still be in it. It has her symbol on it so you can't miss it."  
"That helps. What about the others?" Pyrrha asked.  
"Them... I'm not sure, once you know who they are just try and find something that may have been taken from them before they died, also, keep a close guard on your own things, if you lose anything it may be a sign you've been targeted by this place as it's next energy source."  
"We'll keep that in mind." The redhead nodded.  
"Good, and good luck. None of them are in their right minds so be careful. If you need me check the library, I frequent there pretty often."  
"Thanks Coco, we'll keep you posted." Jaune said and with a small nod the fashionable ghost faded from sight.  
"Let's go see what we can find." Pyrrha stated.  
"Right."  
With a new goal set for them the two headed off with a newfound determination.

* * *

Ren sighed, sitting up. While he hadn't seen any of them he'd heard most of his teammates conversation with Coco. Now that he knew Nora could be in a totally different closed space he was even more worried. He wished he'd been able to catch how she'd said to break down the spaces but he'd been straining to hear much of anything the ghost had to say, he'd gathered that she and Velvet had both died and that the bunny eared Faunus might be dangerous and not a lot else.  
He stood and headed down the hall, hoping he'd be able to find someone or figure something out.

* * *

It was dark and the sound of the storm was distant and muffled. His head throbbed worse than before so it was hard to really comprehend anything around him, he wasn't sure how he'd gotten to this dark place either. When he tried to move, he found he was pinned, while he was upright he felt a pressure on all sides from his shoulders down, like he was trapped by something heavy...  
Another sound joined the noise of the distant storm, a metallic _shink_ sound, like something metal being stabbed into the ground. The next thing was a thud and he was showered in something, dirt.  
He shook his head to get some of it off. "Hey!"  
_Shink_  
"Hey! Stop!" He protested. "Roman?! Is that you? This isn't funny!"  
More dirt showered down on him, a rather large shovel full so it hurt when it hit and left him struggling to shake it all off. "What's the deal? Get me out of here!"  
"We're gonna die in here... What does it matter who kills you?" Roman's voice was low, the words drawn out a bit slowly and followed by a laugh as another shovel full came pouring down.  
"I don't want to die like this! Are you crazy? We have a chance as long as we're still breathing!" Mercury continued to protest but that only earned him another shovel dumped on him. The dirt was up to his chin now and he wasn't even sure how Roman could even see as dark as it was.  
The next shovel full had the teen spitting dirt, he realized it wasn't getting in his eyes though and thinking on that he realized he was blindfolded.  
"Please stop this, it's crazy!"  
_Shink_  
_Thud_  
_Shink_  
Mercury struggled but the weight of the earth kept him pinned squarely in place as more and more dirt rained down on him, quickly getting to the point he couldn't spit it all out and was struggling to breathe.  
_Shink_  
_Thud_  
_Shink_  
_Thud_  
"Help! Some one! Please!" Mercury's cries were now completely muffled and still more dirt was piled on, not even his hair could be seen now, the hole almost full.  
"Help..!" He coughed and choked, each time he tried to draw in air there was so much dirt, soon he was drowning in it, filling his nose and lungs the lack of air caused even more pain than he was already in. Despite all this he didn't pass out, fate seemed too cruel to grant him that small nicety, to let him slip into unconsciousness before he died, instead leaving him to suffer every second of it, up to the very last moments of his life.  
In those last seconds pain and betrayal was all that lingered in his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

She wasn't sure how long she'd been wandering for, the things Blake had said filling the Heiress's mind as she walked aimlessly, arms crossed and head down. She couldn't imagine what must have happened to the Faunus to cause such a hateful outburst and at that moment Weiss felt that maybe she'd simply failed in her duties as a friend. She'd let Blake down, let her get hurt... She'd been coughing up blood when she found her... On top of that Glynda was dead, crushed to death by a psychotic ghost. She hadn't seen anyone else either, she hadn't even been able to find Blake once she'd gone looking for her.

So now here she was, walking through the rain and not really caring much, it wasn't as cold as weather in Atlas so it didn't really bother her anyway. If anything the dreariness of it matched her mood. She was starting to lose hope in finding anyone else let alone completing the mission and getting home. It seemed like she was all alone now, she wondered if anyone else had even made it here.  
She found herself standing at the doors to another building she hadn't even bothered paying attention to what was and she gave them a glum look. As she debated putting effort into pushing the door open or just going around she heard something and froze, not sure her ears weren't playing tricks on her.

"Anyway, being a student at Beacon is _sooooo_ great!"

"Nora." Weiss breathed, stunned she'd found anyone else. Without a second thought she pushed the doors open and stepped through, Nora's voice was a bit louder but she wasn't in the main room, and for good reason as it smelled atrocious. A quick glance revealed both decaying bodies and rotten food, both equally infested with maggots.

Trying not to gag she hurried towards Nora's voice. She was in the kitchen, it smelled considerably less bad in here, all the food having already been ransacked.

"I've got awesome friends and an even awesomer team! And then there's my partner Ren, he makes the _best_ pancakes in the world! Did you ever get to try them, Velvet?" Nora asked. She was sitting on a counter, sitting on either side of her was a transparent  
Velvet and..

Neo.

The cold blooded killer sat there contentedly, both eyes brown and the most innocent look on her face Weiss had ever seen anyone pull off, it even put Ruby to shame and Ruby _actually was_ innocent.

"Nora! You need to come here." Weiss said firmly, working hard not to show her panic.

"Weiss! It's good to see you! You don't have to worry, they're fine, really." Nora smiled but Neo was now glaring at Weiss, almost daringly.

"I'm sure Velvet is but you don't understand about the other girl. You need to come with me right now, we have to find the others and get out of here!"

"It's fiiiine Weiss... eh?" As she was talking the two Ghosts drifted up into the air, each grabbing one of Nora's arms and lifting her with them. Neo looked... Smug.

"No, please.." Weiss said weakly, fearing that they'd hurt the other girl.

The two pushed past her, knocking her to the ground as they carried Nora, flying through the air at an inhuman speed.

"STOP! NOOOOOOO!" Weiss cried out in panicked horror, turning just barely fast enough to see the ghosts fling Nora into the wall at the far end of the cafeteria. She watched in shocked horror as her classmate shattered against the wall like a blood-filled water balloon.

Neo's silent laughter felt through impression resonated through the hall as the ghost shook with giggles and Velvet laughed too, seemingly highly amused by the horribly cruel kill.

"No..." Weiss gasped quietly and fought back tears, fought back the urge to throw up and somehow pushed herself back up to her feet. Instinct seemed to take over as she made her way back to the doors and outside again, eyes not leaving the ghosts and the bloody mess that was once Nora until she was outside again. At that point she turned and ran for her very life, not even paying attention to where she was going, she just ran with all she had left.

* * *

Though she and Ruby had been walking a while the two hadn't noticed anything useful in quite a while. They hadn't seen a single soul, living or otherwise but there were corpses galore. Yang glanced at her little sister every now and then, the girl having been quiet ever since the cafeteria. She knew Ruby was worried about Weiss but any words of comfort she could think of at this point just seemed like empty promises.

"Yang..."

"What is it sis?" The younger girl's defeated tone worried her but she couldn't manage much more than a soft comforting one herself.

"Remember... Our food fight with team JNPR?"

"Yeah, that was a lot of fun." Yang nodded, offering a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, it concerned her the Ruby was talking about fun times in such a depressed tone.

"Remember how we won? How I caught them all up in the wake of my speed and then... flung them into the wall? If their Aura's had been drained like ours are now... do you think they'd have-"

"Stop." Yang said firmly. "Not another word, stop thinking about that."

Silver eyes looked up at her with worry and uncertainty so she pulled her younger sister into a tight hug, trying to just convey a feeling of comfort and warmth in this cold, dark, miserable place. All they could do at this point was keep searching and hope they would find their friends.

"Let's go to the library." Ruby spoke up suddenly, startling Yang ever so slightly. "I bet it's the first place Blake will have gone to try and find some info on this place."

"Good thinking sis." Yang said with a smile, hugging Ruby tighter just a bit before they set off again.

* * *

"Ugh, man, it smells rancid in here." Jaune complained as he and Pyrrha stepped out of the rain and into the cafeteria.

"Agreed, but it will be easiest to search all the smaller buildings first."

The blond nodded and the two started searching the nasty smelling room quickly as they could, stepping around rotting corpses, checking under tables and trying to not step on piles of maggots that feasted on either rotted food or pieces of people, neither of them cared to find out which it was.  
As they neared the far wall something off to the left got Jaune's attention and he headed over towards the window there. Pyrrha however, had her attention drawn to the big wall, the same one she and her team had been thrown into by Ruby a while back. As she looked at it a big black stain just sort of came into being on the wall, like a big splatter. It unnerved her, though aside from it being a big ugly stain she wasn't sure why.

"Hey, Pyrrha, come here." Jaune said from over by the window and it took the redhead a moment to pull her attention away from the wall and head over to him.

"What is it Jaune?"

"Look what I found." He said, holding up a wallet, it was simple brown but on one side was Velvet's emblem. He opened it up and tucked safely in one of the card slots was a torn piece of white paper.

"Great work Jaune, let's get out of here." Pyrrha smiled, though it didn't last long and she glanced back up at the big stain on their way back out of the building.

* * *

Soaked to the bone the Heiress walked back into the main building, cold, afraid and lonely. There was also the tugging of guilt that just seemed to get stronger anywhere she went. She had left Blake alone, seen her dead Professor's body being tormented by a ghost and not even lifted a finger to help and now... She'd caused Nora to get killed. If she had kept her mouth shut or perhaps been less direct than Nora very well could have been walking right beside her right now, but she hadn't.

She screwed up.

On top of that Blake seemed to hate her and she couldn't find anyone else, though considering her current record that was probably for the best. As she wandered aimlessly she couldn't even find a bright side to look on. She hadn't seen any of the people they'd been sent here to find and she had no idea how they'd get back even if she did.  
Someone near her coughed.

Startled she looked up and turned around. "Hello?"

But no one answered.

With a sigh she turned back around only to freeze the next instant as she stood face to face with a mostly transparent boy about her age. He had silver gray hair and she was certain she'd seen him before but with a blindfold over his eyes, his face all dirty and a mouth packed full of dirt he was hard to recognize.  
She struggled not to scream, he was right in front of her but couldn't seem to see her, taking a quiet step back he didn't seem to notice but the next step her boot found a piece of glass and promptly crunched it.

The boy's attention was back on her and he moved fast, forcing Weiss to also break into a run, she dashed down a hall without even thinking, not knowing where she was going, the only thing running through her mind was getting away from that ghost. Seeing an open door on her right she ducked through it and placed her back against the wall next to the doorway so she could watch, then covered her mouth to muffle herself as best she could.  
The ghost ran past the door and down the hall until he disappeared.

With a sigh of relief the Heiress stepped back out of the classroom and headed down the hall in the opposite direction of the ghost. Racking her brain she tried to remember where she'd seen the boy before but before she could come to any conclusions she heard a loud bang, like someone had kicked something.  
Heading towards the sound but not entirely sure she wanted to know what made it Weiss found herself standing outside the girls restroom. The bang came again so she went inside, moving cautiously across the dirty tile floor and ignoring the shattered mirrors and smashed sinks.

One of the stall doors kicked open but it wasn't quite as loud this time and as she got closer she could hear the sounds of someone struggling to breath.  
She also spotted Blake's boots sitting in the floor just in front of the stall.

"No.." Weiss whispered as she dashed the last few steps and looked into the stall.  
There, hung by the neck with a rope was none other than Blake. The Faunus's fingers clawed at the rope and her feet flailed to find something she could grip and elevate herself with but the toilet was smashed to bits and there was nothing else there.

"S... S...or...y.." She gasped when she spotted Weiss, tears in her eyes and face turning blue. There were scratches on her neck she'd caused fighting with the rope.

Weiss's eyes widened in horror at the sight, panic rising faster than rational thoughts could race. She was literally watching as another friend died, this time slow and agonizingly and the dolt was _apologizing_.

"Wha... why?" Weiss sputtered as she hurried forward, trying to hoist Blake up so she could get the noose off but her efforts only seemed to cause it to tighten and choke the Faunus more.  
"Sorry!" She stumbled back, trying to think what to do, looking all around.

Blake choked and wheezed, struggling but losing strength in her arms, legs no longer flailing, just hanging there.

"Just... Just hold on I'll find something for you to stand on!" Weiss cried, there was nothing in the room so she ran back to the hall. Between the girls and boys restrooms there was a maintenance closet, surely it had a step ladder or at least a mop bucket so she tugged the handle.

It was locked.

She snarled, _'I don't have time for this!'_ Taking a step back she braced her shoulder then rammed the door, bouncing off of it and stumbling back she quickly lined back up and rammed the door again. On her third try the door caved, the frame breaking and the door swinging in.  
She snatched up the first thing that looked like it could be stood on which was a bucket and dashed back to where her friend was struggling. She raced in, catching the edge of the stall to turn herself.

The bucket clattered to the floor.  
The Heiress fell to her knees.  
Blake hung motionless, glassy eyes seeing nothing at all.

"No..." Weiss sobbed, looking up at the tear streaked face of her now dead friend, tears of her own rolling down her pale cheeks. "I'm sorry... Blake..."  
_'I failed you... I failed everyone... all dead..'_  
"All dead because of me..." She whispered and then let out a mournful wail.  
While there still could have been the slightest chance to revive the Faunus girl Weiss couldn't comprehend that, overtaken by guilt and grief her rational mind shut down and she gave in to sobs and tears of silent grieving.

* * *

The never-ending storm continued its tirade and at this point Yang was soaked, her hair flat and clingy, her skin was cold to the touch at the moment but she was less concerned for herself, glancing down at Ruby. She was glad the younger girl had her cloak, with its hood up it was keeping most the rain off of her, though it itself was soaked too.  
With her sister the blond couldn't help but let her mind wonder, she was worried about the others but she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought of Blake, which of course just worried her more but she kept the concern off her face. She didn't want to worry Ruby.

"Hey... Yang.."

"What's up sis?"

"Do you think... we might be the only ones here?"

"Don't be silly, Beacon's a big place we just haven't met up with anyone yet." While the older sister kept an unconcerned tone, trying to stay positive for her little sister and show no fear she had no idea if that was actually true. For all she knew no one else had actually made it to this weird nightmare version of their school.

Finally, the two reached the library and with a smile Yang reached up to open and hold the door for her sister.  
It refused to budge.  
She tugged on it again, harder.  
Still nothing.

"Damn, it's locked."

"There's gotta be a key around somewhere." Ruby said with the tiniest hint of optimism.

"Right let's..." Yang turned around as she spoke but her eyes locked on something that had been standing behind them and the last word got caught for a moment before tumbling out of her mouth in a whisper. "go..."

Confused as to what had distracted her elder sister Ruby turned to look too and for a moment her heart stood still. Silver eyes widened as they locked on another set of silver eyes, the owner of which stood just a dozen steps behind them, wearing a white cloak and glowing slightly.

"Mom..." Ruby gasped, the defeated expression she'd been wearing earlier rapidly being replaced first by shock, then sadness, then joy, tears welling up and running down her face.

"Ruby... Yang." Summer said, a warm smile in place as she looked between the girls.

"Mom!" Ruby rushed forward, arms outstretched to tackle hug her mother.

However, as Ruby reached the white cloak wearing woman her body fazed right through, hitting her with an unpleasant chill and leaving her to stumble and fall on her face.

"Ruby!" Yang cried and rushed over to help her sister up as their mother knelt beside the two. Ruby's face was scraped, tears still falling and a thin dribble of blood ran from a busted lip.

"Why... Why are you here? In this horrible place, why?" The younger girl asked, looking up at her mother in pitiful confusion.

"Rescue mission gone wrong." The older of the Roses answered softly.

"That's why you never came back..." Yang said softly.

Summer nodded and stood, motioning for the girls to follow her. "Come with me I know a place you can dry off and rest a while."

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

The two girls stood and followed the ghost, not realizing the woman walking ahead of them wore a devious grin.

* * *

_'This matter Glynda... I don't think I can trust anyone else with it. My students are vanishing right out of their rooms, if this keeps up, not only will we be lacking a great number of future huntsmen but there will be widespread panic. Please, find out what's going on and bring a stop to it.'_

_'Don't worry, I will.'_

_'Whatever happens... come back safe.'_

Glynda lifted her head slightly off the floor as the dream faded, her vision was blurred and her entire body hurt. Without her glasses the blurriness would only dissipate so much but it did at least return to a normal level. She realized her face had been laying in something sticky and wet, looking back down revealed this to be blood, considering the way she felt she was certain it was her own.  
Attempting to get up got her nowhere, there was something heavy lying on top of her, glances over her shoulder told her it was a cabinet or maybe a book case, she wasn't sure. Frustrated she couldn't move she instead laid still and did a check of herself, seeing what responded and what didn't to try and assess the damage she'd taken.  
She could still feel her legs and feet just fine, she could move her left arm some but the right seemed to be broken, breathing hurt and she was pretty sure she had a few broken ribs. There felt like cuts on her back, something stabbing into it, glass maybe.  
About done with the check she started looking around to see if she could make out her glasses anywhere but she didn't see them, however she heard someone cough.

"Is someone there? I could use some help."

She heard someone draw near with heavy footsteps that echoed strangely. She didn't worry much about that because whoever it was stopped next to her and lifted the piece of furniture enough for her to wiggle free. Once she was clear they dropped it back in place, the thing landing with a sticky splash and a clattery crash.

"Thank you." She stood, turning to face whoever had come to her rescue. He had Grayish silver hair and looked vaguely familiar but with the dirt and blindfold and the blurriness she couldn't quite make out enough features to tell who it was.

He motioned for her to follow him and started out of the room and since she had no other leads she did so. The last thing she remembered was doing the charm with JNPR and RWBY, everything after that was just dark. She felt incredibly weak as she moved so she was sure not only was her Aura drained but she'd lost quite a lot of blood.  
The quiet teen was careful in guiding her, as if aware she couldn't see all that well. Normally she'd be fine without her glasses, everything being a bit fuzzy but not impossible, this place was dark though, and there were a few things she didn't see at first that he guided her around that could have been troublesome to run into.

She wasn't sure how long they walked or how far they were from where she woke but the teen finally stopped in a partially lit hallway. He knelt, picking something up that made the tiniest clatter as he retrieved it from the floor and stood, then turned towards her.  
The Professor tensed, not sure at first what he was doing but before she could try and back away she felt her glasses slide into place. She also felt the teens hands and they were cold as ice, colder than seemed healthy.

"Oh... Thank you." She said, adjusting them to sit right. The left lens was cracked but at least now she could see. She looked up to see who the helpful person was and froze, only then realizing he was semi transparent. Aside from that she recognized him instantly, it was one of the transfer students from Mistral.

"Mercury... What happened to you?"

He coughed, unable to reply to her question and she watched as ghostly bits of dirt fell from his mouth. With a sigh, she glanced around, trying to get her bearings. They were standing outside the restrooms, it appeared someone had busted down the maintenance door. Before she could look around much more Mercury motioned for her to follow again, so she did.

* * *

_**Dun... Dun... Duuuuun!**_

_**Okay, having way too much fun with this lol.**_

_**As always, I love reviews and pm's, hearing feedback always helps me out.**_

_**Hopefully this chapter is edited better!**_

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